Silence Is Golden
by tayababy
Summary: At some crime scenes, silence is enough. Written for Fanfic Challenge Round 14 - All the Colors of the Rainbow
1. Chapter 1

**Silence Is Golden**

Chosen Character: Penelope Garcia

Assigned Character: Spencer Reid

Assigned Sentence: The room was covered in subtle shades of gray and black, including the dried blood, making him think he had suddenly stepped into a 1950's television show.

Suggested by: SunnyInOregon

Written for the Fanfic Challenge Round 14 - All the Colors of the Rainbow on Chit Chat on the Authors Corner

**RIP Steve Jobs, 1955-2011**

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><p>The room was covered in subtle shades of gray and black, including the dried blood, making him think he had suddenly stepped into a 1950's television show.<p>

He hated cases like these - home invasions; parents, children, pets, all brutally murdered in the family home. But it was because of people like these that the team existed in the first place.

He didn't say anything as he picked his way through the house… crime scene. His shoes were covered in the little blue booties favoured by medical professionals, but the amount of blood on the floor required their presence.

The house was silent out of respect. CSU were speaking in hushed tones, the BAU team murmuring to each other, taking photos quietly. No one wanted to disrespect the family that had lived there… the family that lost their lives there.

Doctor Spencer Reid sighed, running a gloved hand through his shorter-than-normal hair. It wasn't fair, but then again, it was never fair.

The shrill ring of his cell phone broke the silence, and he quickly slipped outside to answer the call.

'Reid.' Short, succinct, to the point.

'Hey Boy Genius, how you holding up?'

Of course, he should have known Penelope would recognise how hard it would hit him, how close to home it really was. 'I'm fine, Garcia. What have you got?'

He heard her sigh over the line; even her web of positivity and happiness had been affected by this, the third home invasion in an escalating time frame. 'A whole lot of nothing, unfortunately…'

He tuned out as she rambled on about the victims and their personal lives, her voice losing its shine and bounce.

This case was going to affect all of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, so I had a few requests asking to continue this, and after looking at the prompts for this challenge, I am.

Ashley Seaver/Erin Strauss

There was blood on the walls…the floor…the ceiling…and her hands; she was in a world that consisted of nothing but shades of red, the color of death

Prompt for: Brittanydelko4ever

Prompt by: BrightlyShining

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><p>Chapter Two<p>

There was blood on the walls…the floor…the ceiling…and her hands; she was in a world that consisted of nothing but shades of red, the color of death.

'Agent Seaver, are you alright?'

Ashley was stunned to see Chief Strauss here at the crime scene, her usual pumps substituted for sensible shoes, covered in the same ugly blue booties as everyone else. 'Ma'am?'

Strauss approached the young woman, careful to avoid the blood splatter all around them, careful to respect the silence they had fallen into. 'You have blood on your hands.'

Ashley looked down at her hands, her gaze confused. She didn't know when that happened, or where it had happened, it just… had. 'Oh.'

The crime scene around them was still silent; it was the fourth home invasion, and they were still no closer to identifying the unsub. Everyone knew the silence was out of respect, and for once, no one fought it.

'You should come outside, clean yourself up,' Erin grabbed the younger woman by the elbow, carefully guiding her in the direction of the nearest exit. 'It's okay to feel this way, Ashley; it happens to everyone.'

'It doesn't happen to me,' she whispered, her feet directing themselves outside.

Erin sighed. This one hit close to home, yet again. If she didn't know better, she would say the unsub was getting off on the team's reactions.

But she did know better, and she pushed the thought out of her mind without hesitation.

'How do you handle it?'

Erin almost didn't hear the whispered question from the blonde behind her. 'Handle what?'

'This,' Ashley gestured around her. 'The death, the destruction, the loss of life… of hope. How do you sleep at night after something like this?'

It was a question she had only answered once before, but had asked it herself many years ago. 'You catch the bastard who did this, and you don't stop until you have. You sleep out of necessity, you drink so much coffee it almost replaces your blood, and you read every single case file over and over again until he's in custody.' Her voice was firm but calm. 'But every now and again, the silence that is golden? That's all we have to keep ourselves sane.'


	3. Chapter 3

Jennifer Jareau/Derek Morgan

She was supposed to be surveying the crime scene to look for even the slightest hint as to whom was responsible, but instead she was caught off guard by the beauty of her surroundings as the floating leaves landed wherever they saw fit, completely untainted and somehow unaware of the bright red blood and devastation that marred the ground beneath.

Prompt for: canny-bairn

Prompt by: Brittanydelko4ever

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><p>Chapter Three<p>

She was supposed to be surveying the crime scene to look for even the slightest hint as to whom was responsible, but instead she was caught off guard by the beauty of her surroundings as the floating leaves landed wherever they saw fit, completely untainted and somehow unaware of the bright red blood and devastation that marred the ground beneath.

'JJ?'

She swung around, unsurprised to find Morgan watching her from the porch. 'It's such a lovely place out here.' She turned away from the fallen autumn leaves covering the ground, and the bloodstain, letting them litter the thick green grass haphazardly.

'Until you go inside,' Morgan commented.

JJ sighed. 'Yeah, inside.'

They returned to the living room, carefully skirting blood stains and broken glass. This crime scene, the fifth home invasion, was easily the most brutal, most destructive, they had seen as part of this spree.

'Do you think he'll tell us why?' She might be a profiler now, but she didn't pretend to know all the answers; none of them did.

Derek ran a hand over his head, looking around the trashed area. 'The best we can hope for is a confession; the story comes later, probably on a custodial interview closer to his time.'

'We will get him though, won't we?' the doubt in her voice was obvious.

'Of course we will, sweetheart, and once we do, the world will be a better place.'

JJ snorted. 'That's a load of crap, Morgan, and you know it.'

Derek shrugged. 'That might be so, but the least we can do is catch him and give these poor people some justice.'

They stood in silence, side-by-side, staring at the photographs littering the ground in broken frames. Family portraits, both formal and spontaneous; a newborn in Mom's arms, still grimy from birth; first day of school; a little boy with a puppy; another newborn, this time with the family around Mom.

Wait… the newborn.

There were only three victims.

'Hey, Morgan!'


	4. Chapter 4

Spencer Reid/Emily Prentiss

Flakes of rust fell from the grating as he pulled it off the wall; they tinged his hands a faded red colour and left behind a smell that was far too reminiscent of blood.

Prompt for: Dragon-Ruler of My Domain

Prompt by: DarkSideO'Me

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><p>Chapter Four<p>

The laundry was a room barely touched; home invaders usually avoided them, preferring to destroy the heart and soul of a family in a more public matter.

The silence that echoed through the trashed house wasn't unnerving; for the fifth time this case, it was calming. Well, calming and respectful.

'Reid,' Emily called to her partner, pulling him from his observations.

'Yeah?'

She pointed to an imperfection on the wall, half-hidden by a leaning cupboard. 'What's that?'

They moved the wooden obstruction out of the way – it took a decent amount of effort – revealing a rusting grate on the wall.

'That's strange, I didn't see anything on the outside,' Emily commented, running her finger down a bar.

'It's a double-brick house, so it's more likely to be hidden within that,' Reid gushed.

'Whatever,' Emily waved a hand at him. 'Help me get it open?'

Flakes of rust fell from the grating as he pulled it off the wall; they tinged his hands a faded red colour and left behind a smell that was far too reminiscent of blood.

'Is that what I think it is?'

Emily poked her head into the space revealed by the grate, moving the top layers around until she saw the strip of pink.

'What is it?' Reid dropped the heavy metal onto the ground, dusting his hands off quickly. 'Emily?'

'Ssshhh Reid, you'll scare her,' she hushed him, trying to get a better grip.

'Her?' he was well and truly confused now, but they were still whispering.

Emily wiggled herself out of the crawl space, her torso and arms protectively shielding something… something wrapped in pink.

'Is that a…'

'Baby, genius,' she smiled, cradling the infant to her chest. 'And she's sleeping, so keep your voice down.'

The little girl, no more than a month or two old, was squirming now that she was being held, her mouth puckering and her eyes fluttering open.

'Hey there, baby girl,' Emily soothed her, running one finger down the infant's cheek. 'You're safe now, it's ok.'

'How long has she been in there?' Reid looked dumbstruck at the time bundle. 'And why has she been so quiet this whole time?'

Emily shrugged. 'I don't know, but longer than she should have, I think. She needs to be looked at; her diaper's soiled and I don't think she's been fed for a while.'

Reid looked around, pointing out the nearest team members to them.

Emily shook her head. 'Hey, Morgan!'


	5. Chapter 5

Emily Prentiss/Derek Morgan

He looked down at snow white face swaddled in her pink blanket, wondering how he would help this tiny human to grow up happily.

Prompt for: EmmaBerlin

Prompt by: dustytiger

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><p>Chapter Five<p>

Emily's call stopped his train of thought instantly, instinct taking over as he hurried towards the laundry where she and Reid were.

'What's wrong?'

Emily turned around slowly, still cuddling the little girl to her chest. 'Nothing's wrong Derek. Something's actually right, for once,' she smiled.

'Is that?' he too was dumbstruck.

'A baby, yes,' Emily sniggered. 'Reid had the same reaction.

'But… how?' Morgan stuttered. 'I don't understand.'

'She must have been hidden in the grate when during the unsub's initial invasion,' Reid piped up from the background. 'Since that was only this morning, it's safe to assume she is still healthy, if not a little hungry and dirty.'

JJ slipped out of the cramped room, probably to tell their superiors about the development, gesturing for Spencer to follow. Morgan stepped further into the small laundry, one hand reaching out to touch the baby's downy head.

'It's a miracle she survived,' he murmured, his eyes never leaving the infant's face.

'Yeah,' Emily sighed. 'She was really quiet, so I guess she slept through the whole thing.'

'We can only hope so.'

It was a tragedy really; both of her parents and her older brother were lying in the city's morgue, and as far as they could tell, she had no living relatives.

'She'll have to go into the system, won't she?' Emily was reluctant to let those horrors anywhere near the child's untouched innocence.

'Yeah,' Derek responded. 'But babies are generally adopted out fairly quickly. She'll have a good home, parents who love her. She'll never have to know about this.'

Emily sighed, her heart breaking for the little girl in her arms. 'Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's fair.'

'Nothing ever is.' Derek let her grab his index finger, shaking it a little in her strong grip. 'Yeah, you'll survive, sweetness,' he smiled. 'You're strong already.'

Emily smiled at him, at his paternal ways. 'Want to hold her?'

Derek nodded eagerly; it had been far too long since he'd had the opportunity.

He looked down at snow white face swaddled in her pink blanket, wondering how he would help this tiny human to grow up happily.


	6. Chapter 6

Aaron Hotchner/David Rossi

With a shaky hand, she wiped the renegade tears from her eyes as the heavy rain droplets splattered against the yellow taxi.

Prompt for: BrightlyShining

Prompt by: Bren Gail

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><p>Chapter Six<p>

It took another few days after finding baby Jocelyn in the wall space, but the case was finally solved, and for that Aaron Hotchner could not be more grateful.

Because of some incident, he wasn't exactly sure what, Jocelyn as to remain in the custody of the BAU until the case was solved. Until now.

The weather was awful; Mother Nature had been playing nice until now, but the ominous-looking rain clouds were definitely about to burst.

'Are you ready, Aaron?' Dave appeared at the door to the Unit Chief's office, a sombre look on his face.

'Is it time already?'

The older profiler nodded. 'We have to give her over.'

'I know,' Aaron sighed, running a hand through his short hair. 'Emily, JJ and Penelope just grew so… attached to her, though.'

'So did Morgan.'

The response elicited a chuckle from the otherwise-reserved Hotch. 'I never saw that one coming.'

Dave shook his head, motioning for his boss to leave the office. 'Come on, the longer we leave it, the harder it will be.'

Unsurprisingly, Morgan was cuddling Jocelyn to his chest when they walked into JJ's office; it was her old baby gear they were borrowing, and she had the least amount of interruptions. The team looked up as they felt the room shrink with extra bodies.

JJ noticed the look on their faces immediately. 'It's time?'

Rossi nodded, grabbing the baby bag from the floor. 'Social Services will be here any minute; apparently they already have a place for her.'

'See, I told you babies are placed quickly,' Reid nudged Emily's shoulder playfully.

'Doesn't mean I have to like it,' she grumbled, rising from the bookshelf she was leaning on. 'Come on Derek, you've had your turn. I want one last cuddle before she goes.'

Hotch shook his head as his agents bickered like children over the baby, who eventually ended up in Emily's arms anyway. 'Chop, chop,' he clapped his hands together. 'The longer we leave it, the harder it will be.'

Dave smirked at the line his protégé stole from him, but held the door open for everyone anyway. Someone called the elevator, and they left the sixth floor as a group.

The social worker was waiting in the lobby for them when they arrived, an infant carrier sitting near her feet. She exchanged pleasantries with the group quickly, but was clearly in a rush to be elsewhere.

'Well Agent Hotchner, everything seems in order,' she smiled, checking through the paperwork. 'If you could please buckle Jocelyn into the carrier here, I'll be on my way.' She glared not-so-subtlely at Emily, who glared straight back. 'Agent Prentiss,' she warned.

'Okay, okay,' Emily gave the baby one last hug, crouching down to securely fasten her into the carrier. 'I'll miss you, little one,' she whispered. 'Thanks for… thanks for everything,' she looked up, sharing a look with Aaron, before clipping the last buckle.

The social worker thanked her, picked up the carrier, and turned to leave.

Aaron, Dave and the rest of them watched as Emily rushed after the social worker to the waiting taxi outside, not caring about the massive raindrops that had just started falling. It was almost a heartbreaking scene, like a mother losing a child, but they stood together and watched Emily watch the baby leave.

With a shaky hand, she wiped the renegade tears from her eyes as the heavy rain droplets splattered against the yellow taxi.

'Goodbye, Jocelyn…'

**FIN**

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><p>I know this was a little unrealistic, but it just... fit. Thank you for reading, and please review :)<p> 


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